Overview: The Alapaha Blue Blood Bulldog is a very rare breed. In 1986, Ms. Lana Lou Lane contacted the Animal Research Foundation (ARF) regarding a rare breed known as the "Alapaha Blue Blood Bulldog". Lana Lou Lane, continued the breeding program until she passed away in her sleep on July 20th 2001.

The Alapaha Blue Blood Bulldog's prominent muzzle is covered by loose upper lips. The muzzle should be broad, not long or narrow. The Prominent eyes are set well apart and almond or round shaped. The ears and tail are never trimmed or docked. The body is sturdy and very muscular. The well-muscled hips are narrower than the chest. The straight back is as long as the dog is high at the shoulders. The dewclaws are never removed and the feet are cat-like. The toenails should be white in color. The nose should be black, grey or red in color. There is a considerable difference between the males and females. Males can be almost twice as heavy as the smallest females. With such a small genetic pool, health problems such as inversion of the eyelids (entropion) can develop.

Character: The Alapaha Blue Blood Bulldog is a grand, powerful, exaggerated bulldog with a broad head and natural drop ears. The purpose of this Breed is: Guardian, protection, companion, sport and farm use. As a family guard dog, the Alapaha's mental characteristics and abilities are very impressive. These dogs have been used for centuries as a do-all farm dog. They are used for working cattle and catching hogs.

Temperament: They show strength and alertness, yet agile and athletic, having an amazing endurance. This canine gives the impression of nobility, therefore, the name; Blue Blood. Guarding his master's person, family, and property is a natural instinct of this Breed. They were never bred for aggression, but he will protect, and go into action if and when the need arises. The Alapaha is a natural playmate and protector of children; he will for instance play different with a three year old than a twelve year old. He can also get along well with other animals, even cats.

Care: Little grooming is needed. Occasionally brush to remove dead hair and it will cut down on shedding. Bathe once every two weeks. This breed is an average shedder.

Training: The Alapaha Blue Blood Bulldog is very intelligent and you will be able to teach your dog whatever you feel his/her abilities should be. They excel at obedience. Therefore they are easy to housetrain and they will learn to walk on a leash within two days.

Activity: The Alapaha Blue Blood Bulldog is very energetic and athletic. They will do well in an apartment if they are sufficiently exercised. They are very inactive indoors and will do best with at least an average-sized yard. They are used for working cattle and catching hogs, thus their muscles are long and powerful. This means that they are never stocky and short built and their muzzle is not short like that of a Boxer or an English Bulldog for instance. Their longer muzzle makes breathing easier while running. These athletic, active dogs have a demand for exercise. They will enjoy long walks or running around and playing.

Ownership and Registry: The Alapaha Blue Blood Bulldog is recognized by ARBA (American Rare Breed Association), ARF (The Animal Research Foundation), WWKC (World Wide Kennel Club), ABRA (American Bulldog registry and Archives, ABA (American Bulldog Association), and the NKC (National Kennel Club). There are many different registries out there and we believe that one registry is not neccesarily better than another. Registries are mainly to register litters and provide the public with pedigrees. Therefore, it is up to the public to decide which breeder to buy from and check the pedigrees and credentials themselves, no matter what registry they decide to go with.

As Lana Lou Lane (founder of the breed) states in her booklet:" THE ALAPAHA BLUE BLOOD BULLDOG IS NOT THE SAME DOG AS THE AMERICAN BULLDOG AND NOT TO BE CONFUSED OR TO BE CROSS BRED WITH THEM" (Page 5 on the following link):

Different Types of Breeding:

Line-breeding: This is the breeding of animals that share common ancestors but are not closely related. For example, the dogs may share a common great-grandparent. Line breeding is another way to help "set" or "fix" desirable traits. With line breeding, you breed animals that are related, but you are also routinely introducing genes from other lines into the genetic mix. It takes longer to fix the desirable traits this way, but doing so lowers the risk of those problems associated with repeated in breeding. With a tight line-breeding you might find the same 3, 4 or more dogs showing up numerous times in a 5 generation pedigree. Most of our litters are line-bred.

Out-cross: This is generally considered the breeding of animals with no common ancestors within the first 4 or 5 generations. Out-crossing will tend to produce fewer offspring affected by hereditary diseases, especially if there is extensive family information available and shared. Out-crossing is not for those who want to get someplace fast... but when done carefully and with depth of information, it does offer the potential for producing generations of healthy pups and perhaps... improving the overall vigor of our breed. Out-crossing does not guarantee that the animals will not develop genetic disorders, but it does tend to reduce the numbers of affected offspring. Your best chance of getting an animal that is less prone to developing a genetic disorder comes more from finding a conscientious breeder that screens their animals for hereditary disorders and breeds for the betterment of the breed.

Alapaha Connected Kennels outcrosses only with the breeds that Lana Lou Lane used to create the Alapaha Blue Blood Bulldog. The Alapaha Blue Blood Bulldog has such a small original gene pool, that Breeders tend to line- and in-breed in order to produce consistent puppies. The problem that might occur overtime is that with such small gene pool genetic defects are more common.

After careful consideration and lengthy discussions with the registry, we bought our female Spooky, who is an Old Southern White Bulldog. She comes from White Knight's Old Southern Whites and is pure bred. We made sure that Spooky’s Bloodlines are consistent with what Lana Lou Lane used to produce the first Alapaha Blue Blood Bulldog and out crossed with Spooky to gain less defects within the Alapaha Blue Blood Bulldog. We also used Sonny from the same kennel. As you can read above, you will find out that the Alapaha Blue Blood Bulldog was created mainly out of the Old Southern White Bulldog.

The Alapaha Blue Blood Bulldog's small gene pool:

Lana Lou Lane's Alapaha's almost all have Marcelle, Marble, and Van Shelton (three of her stud Alapaha's) in their bloodline. Are purebreds dogs genetically diverse? Some may regard that as a contradiction in terms. The very concept of creating a breed with characteristics that are distinctly different from other breeds implies a certain limitation on diversity. Nevertheless, within the standards for a breed, diversity should still be possible for genes that do not affect the essential characteristics that distinguish one breed from another. If, in order to maintain breed identity, one has to outcross to a breed comparible- or a breed that was originally part of the breed (Catahoula Bulldogs, Colby Pitbulls, and Old Southern White Bulldogs). You want to make sure, however, not to compromise on genes that relate to general structural soundness, good health, intelligence, and temperament.

The principal reasons for limited genetic diversity are:

Many breeds have been established with too few founders or ones that are already too closely related.

The registries are closed for most breeds; therefore you cannot introduce diversity from outside the existing population.

Most selective breeding practices have the effect of reducing the diversity further. In addition, the wrong things are often selected for.

Even if the founders were sufficiently diverse genetically, almost no one knows how their genetic contributions are distributed among the present day population. Consequently, breeding is done without regard to conserving these contributions, which may be of value to the general health and survival of the breed.